Although the season is still relatively young, every day it gets a little bit older.
Tonight at 6:40 PM CT, the Cubs will open a three-game set in Wrigley Field against the Houston Astros.
As with nearly all yearly interleague series, these two clubs will only meet for one series this season (unless they meet in the World Series). The last time The Astros and Cubs faced off was from May 15 through May 17 last season, when Houston swept the Northsiders at Minute Maid Park.
In the series finale, on May 17, J.P. France and the Astros spotted the Cubbies a 6-1 fourth-inning lead, holding the five-run deficit until the eighth inning before turning it on. Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker each collected three hits, while Jeremy Peña, Jake Meyers, and Yainer Diaz also finished with multiple hits. Bregman (6) and Meyers (3) each went deep in the 7-6 walk-off Houston win. Seth Martinez, Ryne Stanek, Rafael Montero, Hector Neris, and Bryan Abreu each pitched at least one scoreless inning (Martinez collected four outs).
Boy, we had some heroes over heroes tonight. The guys came through. It was a wonderful win. It was the win of the year. That’s great, especially right before an off day, too. The thing I appreciate is not many of the fans left. — Dusty Baker
Houston just dropped a three-game series to the Washington Nationals. They have one series win (versus the Toronto Blue Jays), one series tie (versus the Texas Rangers), and five series losses, including three sweeps. Although the season is still sort of young, the odds get longer every day.
It obviously sucks. Things aren’t going our way, but we need to be mentally strong and get through this. It’s going to show us who we really are. — Chas McCormick
In the meantime, the Cubs have jumped out to a 13-9 record, and sit second in the NL Central and in the second wildcard position. In their most recent series, they split a four-game set versus the Miami Marlins. The Cubs lost the series finale on Sunday, by a 6-3 final score.
In that one, Nico Hoerner got three hits and Mike Tauchman had two to lead Chicago’s offense, while the rest of the team went three-for-27. Kyle Hendricks (0-3) took the loss, allowing four runs in four innings on six hits and zero walks. He struck out five.
There were some positive signs. Some good steps. Some positive steps. Some good innings, for sure. Some took-control-of-the-inning type innings. But we need better results, frankly. — Craig Counsell
Gametimes and Starting Pitchers
Tuesday, 6:40 PM CT: J.P. France (0-2, 7.08) vs. Jordan Wicks (0-2, 5.29)
Wednesday, 6:40 PM CT: Spencer Arrighetti (0-2, 11.57) vs. Jameson Taillon (1-0, 1.80)
Thursday, 1:20 PM CT: Justin Verlander (1-0, 3.00) vs. Javier Assad (2-0 2.11)